If you haven’t yet had a chance to listen to the Bruce Cassidy interview conducted this morning on 98.5’s Toucher & Rich Show, stop what you’re doing and devote your next 19 minutes to one of the more candid engagements in radio format that you’ll hear from an NHL coach, period.

This is vintage Cassidy- in my dealings with him, he’s always taken extra time to go into the details of what makes a player successful or why he’s not performing to a level capable. Cassidy is a true student of the game and he won’t sugarcoat things. If someone plays well (he once went into an extended commentary about Brian Ferlin that timed out at more than 3 minutes- it’s a shame injuries- a concussion and major knee injury have derailed his development in Boston.) he says so. If someone isn’t holding up their end of things, or their play doesn’t warrant a key role in the lineup, he says so. And, he does it by giving the listener more details and a rationale that you don’t always get from bench bosses who will speak cryptically and in clichés more often than not.

The Bruins and GM Don Sweeney made official what most believed was the case today- Bruce Cassidy has been named the 28th head coach in team history.

Here’s a part of the release. The rest is over at the Boston Bruins website.

BOSTON – Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney announced today, April 26, that Bruce Cassidy has been named the 28th head coach of the Boston Bruins.

Cassidy served as Interim Head Coach for the Bruins’ final 33 regular and postseason games, compiling a 18-8-1 regular season record and propelling the team to a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2013-14 season. Since Cassidy assumed head coaching responsibilities on February 9, the Bruins ranked first in the NHL in goals per game (3.37), first in the NHL in fewest shots allowed (741), tied for second in the NHL in wins (18), tied for second in the NHL in power play percentage (27.8%), tied for third in the NHL in goals allowed per game (2.30), tied for fifth in the NHL in faceoff percentage (53.6%) and tied for sixth in the NHL in takeaways (229).

Before joining Boston as an assistant prior to the start of the 2016-17 season, Cassidy spent five seasons (2011-16) as head coach of the Providence Bruins, having spent the three previous seasons (2008-11) with the club as an assistant. The 51-year-old native of Ottawa, Ontario compiled a 207-128-45 overall record in 380 games at the helm, including winning seasons in all five years and postseason berths in each of his final four seasons in Providence. In 2015-16, Cassidy helped lead the P-Bruins to a 41-22-13 record.

TSP take: It’s hard to argue with the way the team pulled together down the stretch to make the playoffs after two cringe-inducing flameouts in 2015 and 2016. Cassidy earned the chance to take charge of the team going forward. He’s a very knowledgeable hockey guy who appears to have learned from some mistakes and missteps that were publicized when he was with the Washington Capitals.

As pointed out by a fan on Twitter, he doesn’t have a stellar playoff record in the AHL, but it’s hard to hold the 2017 series against Ottawa against him with the kind of depleted lineup he oversaw- the guys played hard and showed a lot of fight in a closely-contested series with the Senators. It could have gone Boston’s way, but didn’t.

Cassidy’s work in Providence gives him an advantage that Claude Julien didn’t have when he was hired in 2007, coming into the organization new after being dismissed by New Jersey. Cassidy’s firsthand knowledge of many of the younger players in the system who either played for him in the AHL or at the summer development camps will allow for a different mindset and decision-making than fans were perhaps used to seeing with Julien. At least in the next year or two, that is- as Cassidy spreads his wings and establishes himself as the Boston bench boss. We could see a change in personnel in the coaching staff as well, but for now- the focus is on Cassidy and a fresh new era in B’s coaching for the first time in a decade.

We’ll always respect Julien for what he accomplished, culminating in one Stanley Cup championship in 2011 and nearly another in 2013. Nothing lasts forever, and for now- Cassidy is the right person to lead the team in a new direction.

We congratulate Coach Cassidy on securing the job and know he’s already rolling up the sleeves and getting to work. As a kid who grew up cheering for Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins, you have to be happy for him- this is truly a dream job, and you can bet that he’ll do his best to stay on.

For the sixth time in as many games in the Boston Bruins-Ottawa Senators 2017 NHL playoff series, the contest was decided by just one goal, and went to overtime for the fourth occasion. Unfortunately for the B’s and their faithful, an untimely David Pastrnak penalty (and it was a penalty, even though the men in stripes once again open themselves up to criticism by not calling other similar infractions in OT) opened the door for the Senators to send them home.

Given the tumultuous season that ultimately ended in what we feel is positive fashion despite the disappointing outcome (the B’s lost all three of its home games), there are reasons for fans to be optimistic about the organization going forward. Here are a few story lines to keep an eye on as the B’s made the postseason for the first time in Don Sweeney’s tenure as GM, and gave the Senators all they could handle. Some bounces here and there, and perhaps a little more consistency in the officiating, and who knows? Maybe the team could’ve pulled off an upset, but we see more reasons to be positive than negative given where things stood in early February when Claude Julien was fired.

This post will focus on Bruce Cassidy and Charlie McAvoy as the team clears out lockers and begins the offseason. Other parts will look at different topics rather than generate one gigantic 4,000-word (or more) post. Yes, the posts have been more and more infrequent- what can we tell you- professional and personal life has intervened and this is a side project. As always- appreciate the support of this blog.

Now, for the first in a series of “calling it like we see it” posts about the Bruins and where they go from here:

Reed Duthie, Dominic Tiano and your TSP founder have reunited for another podcast. It’s been a time of transition, and we’re not a professional outfit, so we appreciate the patience over the time elapsed from our last offering. We’ll do these when we can, but for now- we’re focusing on the dismissal of Claude Julien, new B’s interim bench boss Bruce Cassidy and trade rumors swirling around the team and one name in particular out West.

Enjoy the podcast, and we’ll follow up tomorrow with the debut of our 45- minute supplementary podcast “Ask the Amigos” where we take questions our listeners and TSP readers submitted on Twitter.

About 24 hours ago, the Boston Bruins and GM Don Sweeney officially swung the Sword of Damocles that had been hanging over the organization and coach Claude Julien’s head for weeks (some would even say years), dismissing the franchise’s all-time wins leader and Stanley Cup champion behind the bench, setting off a firestorm of criticism online and in the media for the timing and way it was handled.

This post will attempt to analyze the move and the subsequent naming of assistant coach Bruce Cassidy as the B’s interim bench boss. It is by no means the first and last word on the matter, nor will it hit every bucket that the firing impacts. Whether you were someone who felt it was time to go and are angered that the team elected to do it on the morning of the New England Patriots’ victory parade, are someone who felt he was not the problem and are even more irate at the timing, or are someone who feels like the move had to be made and have no issue with it (and everyone in between), this piece will try to raise multiple perspectives and shed light on some of the other factors that led to where we are on Wednesday, February 8, 2017- nearly a decade after Julien was brought in on the heels of the failed Dave Lewis experiment.